Personal Log of Leonard McCoy
by Avirra
Summary: A year-long look into the log of the CMO of the good ship Enterprise. Goal is to shoot for 365 entries - 2 months worth down, 10 to go.
1. Stardate 2260

Stardate 2260.

Personal log : Leonard McCoy - First day of this log. I'm attempting to make short daily entries for the coming year. Jim suggested it might give me a more objective view of how things are going out here when I review it later.

Back home, it's New Year's Day. Out here in the black, just another day. Some celebrate it out here, but it isn't the same thing. At least not to me, so I don't bother to attend unless Jim drags me. Speak of the devil - he's at the door. McCoy out.


	2. Stardate 2260:0034

Stardate 2260.0034.

I seriously wonder if Spock, Nyota and I are the only crewmembers aboard with a maturity level over the age of thirteen. Note to self - never allow Jim and Sulu to drink in the same room at the same time. The two of them feed off of one another in dangerous ways when alcohol is involved. If that wasn't bad enough, Chekov joined in. If I wasn't afraid they might steer us into a planet, I'd let time and a few sessions of praying to the toilet take care of their hangovers for them.


	3. Stardate 2260:00727

Stardate 2260.00727.

New orders from Starfleet - we're detouring to Nelphia in the Argelius B system. Their representative, Vantir Plassen, put in a request to meet as their planet is considering applying to join the Federation.

I get why Jim and Spock are going. I get why Nyota is going. What I don't get is why I'm going. I'm not a linguist, a politician or a diplomat. Of course, with Jim's luck, he'll have an allergic reaction to the first thing he touches. Guess I may as well be close by with my medkit.


	4. Stardate 2260:00964

Stardate 2260.00964.

Well, that was different. The Argelians were a friendly bunch with two exceptions. Namely Jim and Spock. Blue eyes aren't found in their species, so those laser-blue eyes of Jim's creeped them out. They didn't react well to stoicism either - Jim and Spock had to leave before the meeting could even start. All of which meant that all the diplomatic talking done had to be done by me and Nyota.

Bless Nyota's heart, she did most of the talking while I just smiled and nodded a lot. Glad their booze is good.


	5. Stardate 2260:0119

Stardate 2260.0119.

We leave Nelphia tomorrow, but today is a formal farewell dinner. Jim's taking his lack of invitation better than expected. Nyota has tactfully explained to our hosts that they need to work on accepting physical differences to become part of the Federation. We have been requested to provide media showing the different eye/hair/skin combinations that can be found among various species.

Nyota discovered another custom that she's leaving to me. Seems that the Argelians consider a drinking contest to be part of any formal dinner. Damn good thing I'm off-duty tomorrow.


	6. Stardate 2260:0158

Stardate 2260.0158

Back in the black again. Jim was already pouting over missing out on the drinking competition, then Nyota had to go and tell him that the main entertainment was a group of extremely attractive female dancers wearing very drafty costumes. I thought he was going to lose his mind. Infant. Also had to deal with Scotty. He wanted all the ingredients for their nine-layer cocktail. I don't know why he expected me to know - after that drinking contest, I'm lucky I can remember my name. Worth it though - caused a stir when I won.


	7. Stardate 2260:0175

Stardate 2260.0175

Bad day. The instructors training medical staff for the black describe it as similar to working in a hospital that happens to move around. A hospital? Only if it's one you live in every minute of every day - where the patients are always the same folks. No, the hospital comparison is bullshit. This is more like being a clinic in a small town with no other medical facilities around. We eventually know everyone. I wonder if they take serious enough consideration about how hard it can be to treat folks you know well and interact with.


	8. Stardate 2260:0199

Stardate 2260.0199

Jim hacked into my journal. Told me that saying 'bad day' doesn't count. Infant. Fine. Came close to losing Ensign Terrick yesterday. He got caught in the middle of a catastrophic chain reaction down in Engineering. Hell, I could still lose him. I have him in an induced coma right now to give him a chance to heal without dealing with the pain from the treatments he needs. Worst part? Looking into his friends' faces and telling them that this wasn't some minor injury I could simply wave a regenerator over to make it better.


	9. Stardate 2260:0238

Stardate 2260.0238

Cautiously optimistic on how recovery is going for Ensign Terrick. His response to the treatment is better than I had hoped for, but I still need to go painstakingly slow, repairing one layer at a time then allowing some rest before taking another step. His friends don't understand why it's taking so long and I can only give them vague answers - Ensign Terrick's privacy has to be taken into account, after all.

I may be able to restore full function to his arm or close to it, so long as he cooperates with therapy.


	10. Stardate 2260:0264

Stardate 2260.0264

This should prove interesting. I've asked Spock to encrypt my log to keep Jim from snooping in it. Spock was a bit hesitant at first as he thought it would be going against the Captain. When I explain it might be going against Jim, but not against the Captain, he was all for it. I think he's viewing this like a chess puzzle. Fine by me, long as it works. Jim's the one that insisted on a personal log and if I'm going to have one, I want it to stay personal, dammit.


	11. Stardate 2260:02856

Stardate 2260.02856

It was worth asking Spock for help. Jim stomped into my office with his nose all bent out of shape because he couldn't get into my personal log. After several minutes of lively discussion over the meaning of the word 'personal', he stomped back out pissier than an Atlanta debutante stood up at the cotillion. Pretty sure I heard Spock's name used in vain on his way out. Well, not much keeping who encrypted my stuff a secret. Only ones really able to pull that off well enough to stall Jim are Spock and Chekov.


	12. Stardate 2260:03109

Stardate 2260.03109

In my office, catching my breath. Guess I'm lucky Ensign Vandermeer didn't break my jaw. At least that means I can repair the damage myself instead of having to drag Christine into this mess. The punch didn't bother me as much as his accusation that my treatment of Ensign Terrick equates to torture. Yeah, part of me knows that understanding things have to be taken in stages to reach the best outcome is hard for a non-medical person to comprehend, but does the crew really think I'd deliberately inflict pain on someone?


	13. Stardate 2260:0338

Stardate 2260.0338

Spock entered my office, securing the door behind him. Not his usual behavior, so he got my attention. Straight to the point, he asked why I hadn't put Ensign Vandermeer on report. Good thing I was shocked speechless - I was just about to yell at Spock for peeking at my log when he continued and told me that Vandermeer had turned himself in. The ensign assumed that I'd already reported it and he wanted to tell his side of the story. Have reports I need to finish so asked if we could discuss this tomorrow.


	14. Stardate 2260:03756

Stardate 2260.03756

Spock and I met after we were both off-duty. Seems that when Vandermeer turned himself in to Spock, Spock found himself in the odd position of having someone complaining to him about me being unfeeling. I'll never forget what Spock said about that: 'I can think of several hundred adjectives to apply to you, Doctor, but 'unfeeling' would never make the list.' The look on his face when I told him that was the sweetest thing that anyone had ever said to me? Absolutely priceless. Damn, I wish I had a picture of that expression.


	15. Stardate 2260:0391

Stardate 2260.0391

Seems that talk with Vandermeer bothered Spock enough to enlist Nyota's aid. Found her waiting for me when my shift ended and she asked me to walk with her. At first, we walked without saying anything, then she started talking about how some otherwise intelligent people can behave like total idiots. At first, I thought Jim had done something again. Dawned on me who she actually meant when she asked how Terrick was doing. I told her about his progress, then we probably walked and talked for an hour - have to admit, I felt better after.


	16. Stardate 2260:0427

Stardate 2260.0427

I was on the last stage of the repairs to Ensign Terrick's arm when Jim came in. From the way his eyes went immediately to my jaw, I knew he'd finally gotten past Spock's coding, but he covered very well. He said he wanted to be present when I brought Terrick back to full awareness. Pretended to believe that and told him that if he was looking for sensible answers about what had happened, he'd need to wait at least another day. Waking Terrick up went as hoped. Disoriented, but that was expected.


	17. Stardate 2260:0448

Stardate 2260.0448

Other than checkups, I've signed off on Ensign Terrick. Turned him over to Nurse Bierman for physical therapy with orders to pull me in if he balks. I'm not letting days of work go to waste over him not following his after-care regimen.

Jim and I had a long talk about Vandermeer - I conceded Jim's point that Vandermeer needs to learn better ways to deal with stress if he ever wants his own command. Mutual agreement - he gets verbal counseling as well as notice that another incident will land him in the brig.


	18. Stardate 2260:0475

Stardate 2260.0475

The system we've entered isn't charted yet and one of the planets show signs that it might be able to support life. Jim's going to put us in orbit to get more detailed scans and, if the readings look good, he wants to take a landing party down to get a closer look. Guess who he wants in the landing party? 'Come on, Bones. It will be fun, Bones.' Why do I always hear ominous music in my head whenever he says things like that? Probably my self-preservation instincts tossing out a warning.


	19. Stardate 2260:0504

Stardate 2260.0504

Looks like going down to the planet surface has to wait another day. Not that I'm in a hurry. There's what Spock is calling an 'atmospheric disturbance' over the main landmass. Atmospheric disturbance, my Aunt Fannie. Looks like this planet's version of a hurricane to me.

Interesting side note: Spock says there are possible signs of past intelligent life on that planet. Can't get a good enough reading from sensors for confirmation, so a landing party really is necessary for visual evaluation. Me having to be on it? Still debatable in my book.


	20. Stardate 2260:0538

Stardate 2260.0538

The weather planet side is starting to wind down. Jim has made the call that when we finally head down, it will be by shuttle instead of teleporting. Odd - when I used to think about planet exploration as a kid, I thought machines and sensors did most of the leg work. I asked Spock about that. He explained that machines were extensively used at first but they haven't managed to invent one that can evaluate like a living person can. Plus, nothing sours relations with new races faster than first contact being made by a machine.


	21. Stardate 2260:0567

Stardate 2260.0567

We're on the planet surface. I'm wondering who did the alterations to the shuttle's armrests - the extra padding was appreciated.

No such thing as a dry place to land, so Jim went for less wet. Atmosphere is a little oxygen rich, but not outside of acceptable ranges. Still, since we'll be down here two or three days, I've given the landing team the list of symptoms to watch for and paired them off to keep an eye on one another.

Nice to be on solid ground, even if the ground is green.


	22. Stardate 2260:0589

Stardate 2260.0589

Been a busy day of exploring the area in teams. While we have found a few signs that intelligent life has at least visited this world, we haven't found any signs yet that any have actually ever lived here. We've been taking a lot of samples, but Jim has admitted that the possibilities of this becoming a colony world are low.

Speaking of Jim, he's been teleported back about the ship to respond to a dispatch from Starfleet Command, so looks like it will be me and the other four camping out here tonight.


	23. Stardate 2260:0612

Stardate 2260.0612

The weather has shifted here incredibly fast. No chance of teleports in this mess. I don't like where we are one bit - it's really flat with no tall growth around. While that means there's nothing around to fall on us, it also means the shuttle is the tallest thing around. Not my first hurricane, but sure as hell is my first in a shuttle and this is a first I'd just as soon have avoided. We've worked together and anchored the craft as well as it can be - hope it's enough.


	24. Stardate 2260:0646

Stardate 2260.0646

CMO Log Supplemental - Captain James Kirk recording. Once the storm abated enough to make contact, Lieutenant Uhura tried repeatedly to hail the shuttle Copernicus without success. A landing party led by Spock and myself beamed to the surface to investigate. The Copernicus was heavily damaged, but so far, we have not found any signs of Lieutenants Aronica and Yelton, Ensigns Chbosky and Mayamoto or Doctor McCoy - living or dead. The one oddity Spock noted is that the door sustained the most damage and he doesn't believe it was all from the storm. Bones, where are you?


	25. Stardate 2260:0667

Stardate 2260.0667

CMO Log Supplemental - Captain James Kirk recording. After thorough searching found no signs of our missing people, our landing party beamed back to run a deeper series of scans that Spock hoped would detect something we missed. The scanners suddenly went from reading no life forms to reading nearly a hundred, then the readings dropped just as quickly down to four - all humanoid. Scotty locked on their life signs and teleported them aboard, calling immediately for emergency medical. All four remain unconscious, but have no obvious injuries aside from blue-gray skin tones. Aronica is still missing.


	26. Stardate 2260:0701

Stardate 2260.0701

CMO Log Supplemental. Captain James Kirk recording. Bones is still unconscious as are the other three recovered yesterday. The presence of an unknown gas was detected in their lungs, but they have all been put into oxygen therapy with positive results. Their vital signs are steadily improving and their skin tones are gradually returning to normal. Hopefully, they will begin waking soon.

Further scanning located Aronica's body. Like the others, her skin tones were blue-gray but with darker blotches. I have ordered her body be placed into stasis until the survivors can answer some questions.


	27. Stardate 2260:0723

Stardate 2260.0723

CMO Log Supplemental. Captain James Kirk recording. The shuttle survivors have begun to wake, but all seem disoriented and are having difficulty with speech. Still, it was a huge relief when I saw Bones sit up even though it took myself and two nurses to calm him down until he realized where he was at. The burst of activity was short, but it seemed to drain all the energy out of him. Still, at least now Bones is sleeping peacefully instead of being unconscious. Sitting and watching as he sleeps. Tomorrow, maybe we'll get some answers.


	28. Stardate 2260:0748

Stardate 2260.0748

Personal log retrieved from Jim since I'm able to record in my own log again. The other three survivors and I are still not back to full duty status. Whatever gas it was we inhaled took a toll on us. I don't remember much about the planet's inhabitants, but I think they were trying to protect us from the storm and didn't realize that we couldn't breathe what they breathe. Unsure why the gas was fatal to Lieutenant Aronica and not the rest of us, but hopefully the autopsy will tell us.


	29. Stardate 2260:0777

Stardate 2260.0777

On limited duty. I've used my half-day to work on Lieutenant Aronica's autopsy. Re-reading through her medical records gave me an idea of what to look for - analysis confirmed it. She grew up on a colony world and it affected her lung development in what normally might be considered a good way - she had better lung capacity than anyone else on the shuttle. Unfortunately, that meant she inhaled larger amounts of the gas than the rest of us did. I have another theory as well, but want to run it by Spock first.


	30. Stardate 2260:0797

Stardate 2260.0797

We debriefed today about the incident planet-side. Spock has categorized the gas and named it Dulcon after the late Lieutenant Dulce Aronica. After consulting with Spock, we have agreed that from all indications, the life forms appeared on the surface shortly after Aronica's death. This would seem to indicate the native life forms are intelligent enough that they realized something in their area caused her death and they made the decision to return the rest of us to the surface. The official survey will list the planet as inhabited and not suitable for humanoid colonization.


	31. Stardate 2260:0831

Stardate 2260.0831

If there is anything that I absolutely despise about being a doctor, this is it. Writing out the death certificate for someone far too young. Two months from what would have been her twenty-fifth birthday. I don't envy Jim's job of writing to her family either. He takes any death of one of our crew hard, but dying because someone was trying to help us? Just seems so pointless.

I finished the report from the medical standpoint for Starfleet and will be monitoring everyone exposed to the gas periodically for any collateral health problems.


	32. Stardate 2260:0858

Stardate 2260.0858

Quiet day in Sickbay, so it was a good time to start the research project that Sulu wants me and Spock to participate in. We've collected samples of numerous plants that have healing properties over the course of our mission, but never experimented with the way changes in growing conditions might affect them. It will take awhile but we've agreed that five sets of plants at a time is all that we can reasonably handle with the combination of our other duties and the interruptions that are part and parcel of life on a starship.


	33. Stardate 2260:0885

Stardate 2260.0885

The first set of five plants that we're working with are, or rather were, native to Vulcan, so we're going to be taking extra precautions with them. Chilling to think how many plants became extinct when Vulcan was destroyed. Naturally, in the rush to rescue people, plants were the last thing anyone thought of.

The plants we're working are descendants from a terrarium that Spock's mother made for him years ago as a memento. If it hadn't been for that gift, the majority of these plants would now be extinct as well.


	34. Stardate 2260:0912

Stardate 2260.0912

Knew the quiet wouldn't last long - another incident in Engineering. I understand the logic in locating the main Sickbay a decent distance from the primary source of explosions, but I've been thinking that I should ask Jim about taking some space closer to Engineering and creating a medical sub-station as a combination first-aid for minor injuries and triage for the more serious ones. I'll go see Scotty and see what he thinks about that. He'd probably have the best idea of where the best place for the sub-station would be.


	35. Stardate 2260:0939

Stardate 2260.0939

I had a long chat with Scotty earlier today and he's in full agreement with me about the need for closer emergency services to Engineering. We've even talked about having some detailed first aid classes covering the most common types of injuries to that area - burns and broken limbs are around 75% of the serious injuries with cuts making up nearly all of the rest. I don't think there will be much grumbling over the training either. If any group onboard can see the advantages of advanced first-aid training, it's the engineers.


	36. Stardate 2260:0966

Stardate 2260.0966

Scotty and I decided to approach Jim on the sub-station idea together so that, between us, we could answer any questions or concerns he might have. As it turned out, we didn't have to try very hard to sell him on the idea of the sub-station and he was also agreeable to the advanced first aid training with his only stipulation being that the training be volunteer only. I don't have any objections to that. Not everyone deals well with the sights and smells that are part and parcel with tending to injuries.


	37. Stardate 2260:0991

Stardate 2260.0991

The ball is rolling now on the medical sub-station for Engineering. Scotty has a list of areas that could be repurposed and turned it to Spock, along with my own list of minimal requirements - Jim has him overseeing the project. I'm coordinating with my nurses over the training - one thing we all agree on? I can write up the lessons, but someone else needs to do the teaching for both my sanity and that of the students. Besides, Chapel's of the opinion no one will volunteer if they find out I'm the instructor.


	38. Stardate 2260:1021

Stardate 2260.1021

I'm at a standstill on the sub-station project until some decisions are made - no point in trying design out the space until I know the size and shape I have to work with. Even an extra square foot makes a difference in where I'd place things. Not that there's any lack of other work to keep me occupied. I'd be willing to bet there's one Admiral back at Starfleet Command whose only job is to invent new forms for us to fill out. Does anyone even read all these damn reports?


	39. Stardate 2260:1047

Stardate 2260.1047

Sitting by Jim's bedside watching him breathe. Which is a large improvement over a few hours ago when keeping him breathing was a challenge. Took some doing, but finally figured it out. Jim's body is getting too damn creative with his allergies. Turns out that if you take Andor chocolate - which Jim doesn't have a reaction to - and a regular apple, then mix the two? Something about the enzymes of the apple brings out a property of the chocolate that normal digestion doesn't. I swear this kid will be the death of me.


	40. Stardate 2260:1084

Stardate 2260.1084

Spock and I have pooled our researching talents. Surprise - looks like Jim's allergies aren't to blame for once. Either folks have been lucky enough not to mix fresh apples with Andor chocolate or they died without anyone figuring out what happened. Turns out the two together are a toxic combination for most humanoid digestive systems. Spock and I have sent out urgent alerts through the Medical and Science communities along with the drug therapy I used to get Jim through it. Speaking of Jim, he's doing much better - just complaining about a sore throat.


	41. Stardate 2260:1091

Stardate 2260.1091

CMO Log Supplemental - Captain James Kirk recording. Bones, I know you don't plan to listen to your logs until the end of the year, so you won't hear this for quite awhile, but that's okay. It's something that needs saying more than I manage to say it - thanks. You may consider what you do to be the same as any other doctor would, but its not. So, even though you are way, way too attached to your hypospray, there is no-one else I trust to watch over our crew like you do.


	42. Stardate 2260:1128

Stardate 2260.1128

There was a quote that described war as long periods of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror. I've decided that pretty much sums up a deep space mission as well, the only exception being that with Jim as our Captain, the 'sheer terror' moments are probably more frequent than they would normally be. Right now, the most exciting thing going on is a chess tournament between Chekov and Spock, which means it's a great time to be tending to the plant project. The Vulcan plants are doing remarkably well in a variety of climates.


	43. Stardate 2260:1165

Stardate 2260.1165

The chess match is still going on, not that it has been a non-stop match, of course. Chekov and Spock are commonly spending about an hour at a time on the game and are more focused on how many moves they can keep the game going for than in simply winning. Which actually has made it more interesting to watch - at least for me. I'm a decent player, but nowhere near their level, but this is like watching two really good tennis players trying to keep a volley going for as long as they can.


	44. Stardate 2260:1182

Stardate 2260.1182

The chess marathon finally came to an end. They didn't beat the longest recorded match, but making the game last 254 moves wasn't too shabby. There's bound to be a rematch.

I'm trying an old experiment on the plants with a little twist, using music on two of the groups of plants - Terran classical on one set and Vulcan classical on the other. Sulu agrees that it will be interesting to see if the plants have equal responses to music or if they react more positively to the music native to their planet.


	45. Stardate 2260:1209

Stardate 2260.1209

I told Spock today about playing Vulcan classical music for one of the groups of plants. While he withheld his opinion regarding how he thought the experiment might go, he did mention that his mother frequently talked to her own plants and seemed to have better results in her garden than many of their neighbors did, though that might have been unrelated.

She's one of those people that I wish I could have had an opportunity to meet. Just listening to her talk about her experiences with immersion in the Vulcan cukture would have been fascinating.


	46. Stardate 2260:1246

Stardate 2260.1246

It's been one of the 'moments of terror' days. Haven't heard yet if we know who attacked us or why, but my staff and I have been busy taking care of the injuries resulting from it. Thankfully no fatalities, though we did have a few serious injuries. Now that the flow of incoming wounded has slowed down, I'm about to take a medkit to the Bridge and see what types of injuries they're hiding from me. I understand them not wanting to leave their stations, but they still need to be looked at.


	47. Stardate 2260:1273

Stardate 2260.1273

None of the injuries to the Bridge personnel were serious, but it seems like everyone was slightly injured except for Jim. I treated everyone at their station without any further incidents, but it appears that we're going to be remaining at a higher alert status while they continue to try and determine who attacked us and why. I'll be keeping a closer eye on the Bridge crew. Any version of 'waiting for the other shoe to drop' can be wearing on a body's nerves, but in a combat situation, it can be particularly stressful.


	48. Stardate 2260:1298

Stardate 2260.1298

We aren't any closer to determining who attacked us, but Jim has made the call that we won't learn anything else where we are, so we're continuing on our way. Only difference is we're remaining under a heightened alert status which means more power is being diverted to our shields than usual, so recreational areas that are power hogs are shut down for now. I'm more concerned about everyone being jumpy than that though. I'm already starting to see signs of sleep deprivation in the main Command crew except for Spock.


	49. Stardate 2260:1317

Stardate 2260.1317

Long conference today with Jim, Spock and Scotty. End result? We've created a new alert status. We're all in agreement that maintaining the shields at full strength is a necessity, but that's a fact that is only going to be known to a select few of the crew. So far as the rest will know, we'll have returned to normal operations. I think that will help with the sleep problems in the majority of the crew. Scotty even has the power distribution figured out so we can reopen most of the recreational areas.


	50. Stardate 2260:1344

Stardate 2260.1344

As hoped, reduced stress levels on the majority of the crew is already showing positive results. Of course, I'm still keeping track of those that know the truth, but that gives me a helluva lot fewer folks to keep a close eye on and I have a few ideas on how to help them out. It will give the physical therapists on my team a workout, but massages when the Bridge crews go off shift should help disperse the tension and let them rest. I'll handle Spock personally - I know a method that should work.


	51. Stardate 2260:1371

Stardate 2260.1371

Got looks from the entire Alpha Bridge crew when they were all ordered to Sickbay as soon as their shift was ended, but I'm very pleased with the results. Jim and Chekov both fell asleep during their massage sessions. Uhura, Sulu and the rest weren't far behind, but managed to get to their rooms before passing out. Spock was a little harder to convince into cooperation, but I talked him into trying it. Between the heated sandbags, the warmed oil infused with Ic'tan leaves and me wearing gloves for the massage part? Mission accomplished.


	52. Stardate 2260:1398

Stardate 2260.1398

We've rotated through all the Bridge shifts with positive results. Therapy sessions at shift's end will continue. The therapists involved were told that this is an experimental program and I'm having them keep strict records of vital signs. The one exception is Spock, who told me it was pointless to continue his therapy since his Vulcan metabolism can function on less rest. After a loud discussion, we've come to a compromise - instead of him getting therapy at the end of every shift, he'll get it at the end of every shift rotation.


	53. Stardate 2260:1435

Stardate 2260.1435

Just when it was starting to feel like we were moving from exercising caution to being paranoid, we were attacked again. With the shields already being at full power though, we didn't suffer any causalities this time. Even better from our viewpoint, Chekov and Sulu were on duty - those lightning fast mental calculations that kid can make allowed them to fire back and get a piece of our attacker, damaging their craft enough for capture. Turns out that the sector we're in is a home base to a group of raiders. Currently awaiting Starfleet orders.


	54. Stardate 2260:1452

Stardate 2260.1452

Jim called the command crew together when he received official word from Starfleet. They'll be sending a small squadron to deal with the raiders and want us to carry on with our primary mission. As to the captured raiders, we're turning them over to the nearest Starbase where Scotty can also see to external repairs to our hull. Speaking of the raiders, some needed medical treatment. None of the injuries were life threatening, so I insisted on only one in Sickbay at a time. Glad I did - every one of them tried to cause trouble.


	55. Stardate 2260:1479

Stardate 2260.1479

Again, I'm glad Jim backed my request when I only wanted to deal with treating one raider at a time. The last of the injured proved to be a real handful. Idiot grabbed one of my nurses to try and take her hostage. He picked the wrong nurse - Layali's father has been in Security and he trained all his kids in defending themselves. Layali reacted automatically and broke his arm. I set the bone and put an old-fashioned cast on it while he was still out. That should keep him from getting grabby again.


	56. Stardate 2260:1503

Stardate 2260.1503

Tomorrow we arrive at Starbase 3. I'm not sure what's up, but Scotty and Jim have been nearly inseparable all day. While they could simply be talking about the repairs that need to be done while we're in dock, I sincerely doubt that's it. I suspect Scotty's wanting to change something, which is a pretty safe guess as Scotty always wants to change something.

Spock came in for his massage/relaxation session. He remarked that it was a waste of my time, but I told him it was my time to waste.


	57. Stardate 2260:1543

Stardate 2260.1543

Finally arrived at Starbase 3 and can't say I'm disappointed to see the last of the raiders. We'll be here several days for the repairs, so I'm going to be doing some consultation work with the Starbase medical staff as well as taking a little recreation time on the base along with the rest of the crew. Not that anything on here is any better than what we have on the Enterprise, but it's different. Different set-up and different faces is all, but there's something to be said for novelty.


	58. Stardate 2260:1565

Stardate 2260.1565

Went on a tour of the Starbase facilities with Jim, Spock and Nyota. When we reached one of the recreational areas, Nyota spotted a game she was familiar with and immediately called for a game with me and her against Jim and Spock. When I tried to beg off, she tugged me to the side and explained that winning the game was about knowing how your opponent would react. She was pretty sure she could anticipate Spock and was even surer I could anticipate Jim. She was right - we creamed them. The looks on their faces? Priceless.


	59. Stardate 2260:1587

Stardate 2260.1587

Spent the day in Medical on Starbase 3. The head doctor there, Masika Bashandi, was cold at first until she asked and I explained about the broken arm on the raider. Once that was straightened out, she and I spent hours exchanging notes and helpful information on races that we don't encounter too often. She was fascinated by the story of the cesarean section I performed on a Gorn female and I was equally interested in her experiences with Denobulans. She has a collection of blood samples from various races as well that I found fascinating.


	60. Stardate 2260:1614

Stardate 2260.1614

Jim called a command meeting today to explain what Scotty is doing while we're still docked. He and Scotty concluded that the last incident showed plainly that our standard shields need to be stronger which means our emergency shield strength also needed to be increased. Scotty has figured out the power distribution to keep our running shields at the new level and, in the case of a red alert, the extra power will be diverted from the recreational sections that are not used during red alert status anyway. Anything reducing future casualties is fine by me.


	61. Stardate 2260:1641

Stardate 2260.1641

Unless something changes suddenly, we should be leaving the dock tomorrow. I'm really going to miss my daily chats with Masika - very opinionated woman who isn't afraid to voice those opinions. We've agreed to keep swapping notes on new races that we encounter, but that's not the same as talking face to face. Jim's been teasing me about trying to get her transferred to the Enterprise, but that's not something that's going to happen. Masika is happy where she is and has no interest in traipsing about to unexplored worlds.


	62. Stardate 2260:1669

Stardate 2260.1669

We've picked up orders and a passenger. The Exeter arrived at the Starbase yesterday with a Commander Rudman. We'll be ferrying him to Starbase 11, where he will be joining the crew of the Defiant. Seems like a lot of skipping around, but I guess that's the only way to get replacement folks out without having to bring the ship back to Earth.

Better make sure everyone's ready for patients. Since the crew got to take shore leave while we were in dock, we're bound to have a few diseases crop up.


	63. Stardate 2260:1706

Stardate 2260.1706

Commander Rudman has already worn out his welcome so far as I'm concerned. He's five, maybe six years older than Jim and it's pretty obvious it rankles him that a younger man outranks him. Rudman's been questioning everything Jim does with a tone that implies Jim's doing it all wrong. Jim seems to be letting it go in one ear and out the other so far, but when Spock's eyes met mine, I knew from his slight nod that we have an understanding. We'll both be keeping an eye out.


	64. Stardate 2260:1733

Stardate 2260.1733

Interesting isn't quite the word to describe what happened today at the command meeting. I was sitting in the briefing room with Chekov, Nyota and Cupcake . . . dammit, now Jim has me using that nickname.

Back to the subject at hand, Rudman and Spock came in and Rudman blew a fuse, ordering Chekov and myself out of the room, claiming that the two of us being there constituted a security breech. It was at that point that Jim, Scotty and Sulu came in. If Jim heard Rudman, he ignored it and started the meeting - with everyone present.


	65. Stardate 2260:1751

Stardate 2260.1751

I found Chekov in my office today. The whole deal with Rudman yesterday still had him unsettled. He was trying to figure out what he'd done wrong to make the Commander dislike him. I told the kid what I believe to be the truth - Rudman's jealous of him like he's jealous of Jim. Chekov's brain combined with his willingness to at least attempt to do whatever he's asked to do? Kid's going to outrank Rudman one day and Rudman knows it. Personally, I hope the thought of that gives Rudman indigestion.


	66. Stardate 2260:1778

Stardate 2260.1778

Now I'm going to have to try and explain Rudman to Spock. Rudman is still carping about the meeting - told Spock the only opinions worth wasting time listening to are those from the Bridge crew officers, at least Lieutenants, preferable Lieutenant Commander and above. Being on duty, Spock chose not to argue at the time, but what Rudman said didn't make any sense to him. Since Spock wanted more from me than 'he's an idiot', I invited him to have lunch with me in my office tomorrow so we can discuss this in private.


End file.
